Cougarstar's Battle
by AlexanderCahill
Summary: Cougarkit is an ambitious cat who dreams of becoming Clan leader. But just how much will he go to get his dreams? And what will it cost him?
1. Allegiances

**ALLEGIANCES**

**NORTHCLAN**

**LEADER ****HARESTAR**\- short-haired golden brown tom with a pale brown underbelly and golden eyes

**DEPUTY ****REEDTAIL**\- russet tom with a white dappled coat and shining grey eyes

**MEDICINE CAT ****DUSKYTAIL**\- dark brown tabby tom with golden stripes, golden paws, and yellow eyes (with orange flecks)

**WARRIORS **(toms, and she-cats without kits)

**RIVERBAY**\- pale blue she-cat with white paws, white stripes, a white-tinged muzzle, and crystal blue eyes

**GORSEFUR**\- brown tom with a thick pelt and green eyes

**APPRENTICE, FLAMEPAW**

**BETTLEWING**\- brown tabby tom with white paws and green eyes

**APPRENTICE, TARPAW**

**HEATHERTAIL**\- pinkish-white she-cat with bright blue eyes

**ASPENFALL**\- black tabby tom with white stripes and green eyes

**APPRENTICE, BIRCHPAW**

**QUAILFEATHER**\- blue she-cat with white stripes and grey eyes

**CLOVERFACE**\- long-haired dark brown tabby tom with dark green eyes

**APPRENTICE, CREEKPAW**

**FLOWERPOOL**\- light brown she-cat with green eyes

**METALFUR**\- grey tom with a glossy pelt and amber eyes

**APPRENTICE, CHILLPAW**

**LIONROAR**\- long-haired golden brown tabby tom with yellow eyes

**REDPELT**\- red she-cat with a thick pelt and green eyes

**CLOUDSKY**\- white tom with long glossy fur and blue eyes

**SPOTTEDFUR**\- golden brown she-cat with unusual brown spots and yellow eyes

**APPRENTICES **(more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)

**CHILLPAW **\- blue she-cat with grey-tipped muzzle and tail and grey eyes

**BIRCHPAW**\- light brown tabby tom with white-tinged muzzle and hazel eyes

**FLAMEPAW**\- ginger she-cat with bright yellow eyes

**TARPAW**\- sleek black tom with tall ears, a long tail, and grey eyes

**CREEKPAW **\- brown tom with a long tail and dark blue eyes

**QUEENS **(she-cats expecting or nursing kits)

**SANDTAIL**\- golden brown she-cat with light brown stripes and green eyes (mother to Cougarkit and Hawkkit)

**SNOWBREEZE**\- whitish-silver she-cat with blue eyes (mother to Dovekit and Storkkit)

**EBONYFUR**\- dark grey, almost black, she-cat with tall ears and yellow eyes (mother to Shadowkit and Nightkit)

**MUDDYPELT**\- tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes (mother to Gravelkit and Cobblekit)

**ELDERS **(former warriors and queens, now retired)

**ELKHOOF**\- light brown tabby tom with amber eyes

**BLINDEYE**\- black tom with milky-white and green eyes; retired early due to blindness

**PETALPELT**\- beautiful tortoiseshell she-cat with happy green eyes

**ICECLAN**

**LEADER ****FEATHERSTAR**\- russet she-cat with amber eyes

**DEPUTY ****WISHHEART**\- golden brown she-cat with white stripes and amber eyes

**MEDICINE CAT ****FERNTAIL**\- pinkish-white she-cat with blue eyes

**WARRIORS ****MISTYPOOL**\- blue she-cat with a long tail and grey eyes

**LIGHTNINGFOOT**\- swift blue tabby tom with lightning blue eyes

**ORIOLEWING**\- black tom with a dappled ginger pelt and yellow-orange eyes

**APPRENTICE, TURTLEPAW**

**LAKEPOOL**\- blue she-cat with bright blue eyes

**BLACKLAKE**\- black tom with large blue eyes

**APPRENTICE, MOSSPAW**

**BURRCLAW**\- dark brown tabby tom with a scar across amber eyes

**TALONSCAR**\- black tom with a scarred pelt and icy yellow eyes

**GRIZZLYFUR**\- blue and black tom with long, sharp claws and pale blue-grey eyes

**APPRENTICE, ROCKPAW**

**WINDYBREEZE**\- whitish-silver she-cat with beautiful, shining grey eyes

**APPRENTICE, SPRINGPAW**

**RIPPLEPOOL**\- blue she-cat with long claws and blue eyes

**WOLFCLAW**\- white tom with shiny blue eyes

**APPRENTICES ****TURTLEPAW**\- tortoiseshell tabby tom with brown and white spots and green eyes

**ROCKPAW**\- grey and brown tabby tom with amber eyes

**MOSSPAW**\- brown tabby she-cat with green eyes

**SPRINGPAW**\- blue she-cat with a small, narrow face and green eyes

**QUEENS****GRASSYTAIL**\- dark brown tabby she-cat with happy green eyes (mother to Snakekit, Fuzzykit, Darkkit)

**SPOTTEDPELT**\- white she-cat with silver spots and blue-grey eyes (mother to Sloekit, Streamykit, Snowykit)

**ELDERS ****FIREFANG**\- ginger tom with fiery amber eyes and torn ears

**THUNDERCRY**\- big black she-cat with a scar on her face and yellow eyes

**PINECLAN**

**LEADER ****SWANSTAR**\- white tabby she-cat with black-tipped ears, black paws, and blue eyes

**DEPUTY ****BRACKENHEART**\- golden brown tabby tom with a scar above his eye and brown eyes

**MEDICINE CAT ****IVYTAIL**\- light brown she-cat with a short, plume-like tail and green eyes

**WARRIORS ****BARKFOOT**\- dark brown tabby tom with yellow eyes

**DUCKFEATHER**\- tortoiseshell tom with dark brown, light brown, and reddish-brown spots and green eyes

**APPRENTICE, THRUSHPAW**

**SUNSKY**\- ginger tom with a glossy pelt and yellow eyes

**BLAZEWIND**\- ginger she-cat with yellow eyes

**RYESPOTS**\- russet-furred she-cat with green eyes

**APPRENTICE, ERMINEPAW**

**SLOTHCLAW**\- cream-coloured tom with saggy blue eyes

**OATFUR**\- cream tabby tom with light brown spots and brown eyes

**APPRENTICE, WORMPAW**

**LILYFLOWER**\- white she-cat with large green eyes and small, circular ears

**APPRENTICE, FOXPAW**

**MOOSEFUR**\- large dark brown tom with light brown eyes

**DUSTTAIL**\- brown tabby tom with dark amber-and-brown eyes

**APPRENTICES ****ERMINEPAW**\- whitish brown tabby tom with a short tail, long legs, and grey eyes

**FOXPAW**\- red and white she-cat with tall ears and green eyes

**WORMPAW**\- pale cream tabby tom with dark brown patches of fur and white-and-brown eyes

**THRUSHPAW**\- reddish-brown she-cat with a white muzzle, white paws, and amber eyes

**QUEENS ****BRIARTAIL**\- dark brown tabby she-cat with a stumpy tail and amber eyes (mother to Nutkit and Lavenderkit)

**CLOVEWIND**\- light brown mottled she-cat with brown eyes with green flecks (mother to Woodkit and Logkit)

**ELDERS ****EMBERFUR**\- black tom with barely visible ginger stripes and amber eyes, with orange flecks

**GOLDFEATHER**\- long-haired pale golden tom with yellow eyes

**STONECLAN**

**LEADER ****MOSSYSTAR**\- light grey she-cat with brown spots and green eyes

**APPRENTICE, ASHPAW**

**DEPUTY ****SPARKBLAZE**\- dark golden tabby tom with a scar across his face and amber eyes

**APPRENTICE, STRIPEPAW**

**MEDICINE CAT ****TOADPELT**\- dark brown tom with large green eyes

**WARRIORS ****CLIFFPEAK**\- dark grey tom with light grey eyes with blue flecks

**ASPENTAIL**\- dark brown tom with green eyes

**BRAMBLEBUSH**\- brown she-cat with pointed ears and yellow eyes

**MAPLEWIND**\- tortoiseshell she-cat with orange-and-amber eyes

**APPRENTICE, STREAMPAW**

**GREYPELT**\- long-haired grey tabby tom with a long tail, long ears, and grey eyes

**BASILLEAF**\- mottled brown she-cat with happy, green eyes

**MARBLESTONE**\- white tom with black spots and grey eyes

**APPRENTICE, VOLEPAW**

**ROCKFALL**\- grey tom with wisps of darker grey fur and steely grey eyes

**APPRENTICE, MOUNTAINPAW**

**TORTOISEFUR**\- tortoiseshell she-cat with orange and brown spots and green eyes

**HEATHERBREEZE**\- pinkish-white she-cat with amber eyes (and unusual dark pink flecks)

**JAGGEDFANG**\- smoky grey, almost black, tom with pale, unusual red eyes and jagged teeth

**APPRENTICE, MOTHPAW**

**LONGEAR **\- dark brown tabby tom with long, tall ears, and brown eyes

**BEAUTYHEART**\- beautiful ginger and white she-cat with sleek fur and a ginger-tipped tail

**APPRENTICES ****MOTHPAW**\- pale grey she-cat with dark grey stripes and blue eyes

**CLAWPAW**\- pale brown tom with a scarred pelt and grey eyes

**VOLEPAW**\- dark brown tom with sharp brown eyes and curved muzzle

**STREAMPAW**\- silver she-cat with a dappled blue pelt and blue eyes

**STRIPEPAW**\- grey tom with dark grey stripes and blue eyes

**MOUNTAINPAW**\- tall dark grey tom with sharp grey eyes

**ASHPAW**\- grey tom with dappled white pelt and grey eyes

**QUEENS ****BREEZEFEATHER**\- silver she-cat with thick white stripes and blue eyes (mother to Windkit, Cloudkit, and Stripepaw)

**BIRDFACE**\- brown she-cat with white paws and green eyes (mother to Volepaw and Branchkit)

**ELDERS ****LOSTHEART**\- pale grey tom with hollow light grey eyes

**TAWNYFUR**\- tawny-coloured she-cat with bright blue eyes

**SPICEHEART**\- russet-coloured she-cat with blue eyes


	2. Prologue

_A blood-curdling scream stirred _the golden brown tom awake.

"Harestar!" A voice called worriedly. "Sandtail's kits are missing!"

Harestar recognised the sound of his son, Reedtail's, voice. Harestar pounded angrily out of his den. Rain pounded heavily on the earth as Harestar leapt on a jutting piece of rock NorthClan knew as the Precipice.

"Let all cats old enough to venture into the Snowlands gather to heed my words!" the tom called, teetering on the Precipice.

The Clan slowly gathered. His son Reedtail and his mate Sandtail must be grieving their lost kits. Harestar refused to believe that his son's kits were dead.

Harestar turned his yellow-brown gaze to the Clan. All the cats tried huddling under the large oak near the Elders den, but some stayed in the open, their fur unkempt with wetness.

"Has anybody seen Sandtail's kits? They were born only today. They can't have gone far."

All the Clan murmured amongst themselves. The answer was no.

Reedtail padded sadly from the den. Harestar called the deputy's name. He turned.

"Reedtail, gather a search patrol. It will be hard to track your sons in this weather, but we'll find them."

The deputy nodded. When several of the warriors were gone, the leader ordered a search of the camp.

"If anything seems out of place, it's worth mentioning." Harestar added.

Soon enough, the camp was frantically searching for every sign they could find. It seemed like moons when Harestar heard his name being called. "I found something in the nursery!"

He found Sandtail, crouched with grief in the middle of the nursery, and Quailfeather, a blue she-cat with white stripes. She was sniffing the brambles covering the nursery.

When Harestar settled next to her, Quailfeather picked up a piece of fur from the brambles. It was a piece of dark brown tabby fur- belonging to one of Sandtail's kits.

She brought it towards her and Harestar and scented it. Her beautiful grey eyes went wide.

"Harestar…I…think…_badger._" She sputtered worriedly.

Sandtail looked up. "B-b- badger?"

Harestar calmly turned to Sandtail. "Did you leave the nursery and found that your kits weren't here?"

She shook her head. "It must've happened in the night." Her voice quivered with uneasiness. He turned to Quailfeather. "Organize another patrol. I'll join you at the Stonearch."

The rain pounded on Harestar's pelt like chilling claws as the patrol pounded through the woods, following the reek stench of the badger. They could also catch the NorthClan scent of the kits the badger took.

A golden tabby dropped from the front of the patrol to Harestar.

"Lionroar," Harestar addressed the tabby anxiously. "What is it?"

Lionroar confidently spoke that lightened the leader's mood. "The scent of both the badger and the kits grows stronger with every fox length. I expect we'll be at the den in a second."

"Harestar!" Quailfeather's voice called. "The den!"

Lionroar shrugged. "How convenient."

Harestar strode through the crowd of cats, Lionroar at his side, towards the blue she-cat at the front of the patrol.

"Quailfeather, Lionroar, stay here. I feel like there is no badger in the den." Harestar carefully padded toward the badger set, alert.

Poking his head into the den, Harestar carefully stepped into the den. The scent of badger filled his nose.

But there was no badger.

A terrified scream sounded from outside. "_Badger!"_

Harestar pounded out of the den, his heart beating at his chest like heavy hail. Sure enough, a massive figure stood on a piece of jutting rock, its pelt silhouetted against the moon. It held two small figures in its massive paw.

Another similar figure loomed up next to him. _Two badgers!_

"How are we going to take them on?" a cat chirped worriedly.

Two figures bounded toward the badger. One was a bird, holding out its talons toward the badger's face. Another was a large mountain cat-a cougar- that sped at its enemy.

The badger who was carrying Sandtail's kits dropped them. They tumbled off the cliff…drifting towards the ground.

Quailfeather let out a terrified squeak. Harestar and Lionroar rushed towards the falling kits. Harestar grunted when a pale golden tabby kit was caught in his mouth by its scruff.

He turned to Lionroar, who held a dark tabby in his jaws. The Clan cats behind him let out a sigh.

They turned their gazes to the badgers, who limped away from the battle. The bird flapped away. In the moonlight, Harestar could see that it was a hawk. The other animal, the cougar, gave the Clan cats one glimpse and leapt away.

Reedtail ran through the crowd to see his kits. The dark tabby had a small cut on his flank, but the pale tabby was unharmed.

"Thank StarClan." Reedtail said, licking his kits' fur.

"So you're saying that a _cougar_ and a _hawk_ saved our kits?" Sandtail asked sceptically, the kits' heads poked under her fur.

Reedtail nodded. "It was amazing. I've never seen anything like it."

Harestar purred his assent. "I don't think we'll be seeing those badgers for a long time."

Sandtail nodded. "Good." She gave one of the kits' a quick lick, then she turned to Reedtail.

"Reedtail, we need to name our kits."

Reedtail smiled. "I think I know a couple good names for them."

Sandtail looked at the kits in front of her. She pointed to the dark brown tabby. "This will be Hawkkit." She flicked her gaze to the pale golden brown tabby. "And this will be Cougarkit."

She looked up to Reedtail. The brown tom rested his head on his paws.

"Exactly what I was thinking of." He said, before falling asleep. "Hawkkit and Cougarkit."


End file.
